Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Telenovela Alborada, #13

If you are new to Alborada, please visit the recaps in ORDER - see the bottom of this post for information.

Monday: Cristóbal gets Andrés a job as mozo (some kind of servant) at a hostel he owns. It embarrasses Andrés to do this work (he puts celery into a wagon and sweeps the sidewalk) but he needs the money. His father Francisco, who does not believe in work, is disgusted to see Andrés gainfully employed when he could, instead, be a blackmailer...

Andrés is too embarrassed to say hello to Marina which makes her cry. She goes through her usual "I'm too low for him" speech with Isabel who says, "Oh, cheer up, if you're too low for him, then let's set you up with the guy who takes care of the stables."

As the trip to the vanilla plantation winds up, Antonio makes an unsuccessful attempt to get Gasca gossiping (try saying that three times fast). Owing to this excursion, Gasca is late meeting his evil henchmen (Ramon and the mute, kidnappers of Hipólita) at the inn. He tells them: "I had to escort an imbecile, with his know-it-all airs, around a plantation!" Ramon and the mute have problems: they don't dare look for work while everybody is looking for them, and they don't have any money because Perla (the whore who hired them to steal Hipólita and send her away) stiffed them and disappeared. Gasca says he'll pay them to investigate La Poderosa and her daughter Victoria.

Catalina is happy about the book Cristóbal lent her. She's easy to please.

Luis is upset to hear that Rafael's first birth registration - the Panamanian one which says Rafael is son of the maid, Adalgisa - may have primary validity. As Luis frets Cristóbal says: "You must trust in God," but Felipe says: "Well, Cristóbal, you're a man of God but I am a man of the earth and I say there are two choices: steal Hipólita and the child, OR make the husband disappear." Felipe then sort of breaks down and says: "Tomorrow I'm leaving for the beach settlement to find the man who murdered my son Martin."

Juana is increasingly desperate to find a way to keep Rafael. Malaquias suggests that as far as the prior birth registration goes, it would be best if it "disappeared."

Hipólita is sad about leaving but doesn't have a decent alternative to going back to Panama with her husband. Work is not an option: evidently the only two job openings are "servant" or "whore." Neither of these will provide funds sufficient to pay for Rafael's tranquilizers, velvet pantaloons, and sailor suits.

Antonio tells his friend Rodrigo he has agreed to invest with Diego - he liked the plantation, and the manager, and was offered good terms by Diego. He tells Rodrigo he's thinking of moving to his aunt's farm when they get back to Santa Rita. Rodrigo: "That's good, you'll be able to avoid the gossip which will fall upon you like a storm." Later, Antonio and Diego sign the documents with Malaquias.

Antonio tells Hipólita they're leaving tomorrow and apologizes for suggesting that Rafael might stay behind. He gets on his knees and swears he'll bring Rafael up equally with any children of his "own" which God might choose to send. He kisses her and she gets that eeewww look.

Hipólita tells her sister Catalina - and her mother - that she's leaving the next day, but doesn't want anybody else to know in case there's trouble.

Felipe keeps trying to convince Luis: it must have been Diego who boinked Esperanza. Luis says, well I can't believe he'd do that, but if he did, I'll kill him. Luis gets on his horse and rides away, not saying where he's going. He'll be gone three or four days.

Isabel asks Juana what she's going to do about Rafael leaving for Panama and Juana placidly says: "I guess I'll just have to resign myself to it." This shocks Isabel to the marrow: she says it's the first time she ever saw Juana give in.

Here are the two things which interested me most in this episode:

Francisco continues his tiresome nagging re: (1) getting Catalina married to somebody rich; (2) his blackmailing scheme. "Can you imagine how much silver Juana will pay to keep Luis from finding out Diego impregnated Luis's wife Esperanza?" He wants Asunción to do the blackmailing and threatens her with a heavy coil of rope. She says, "It's too shameful!" and he says, "and what you did with Agustín (have sex and get pregnant with Hipólita, out of wedlock) wasn't shameful? It was *I* who cleaned your name! I made you my wife!" She goes to church and cries.

Well, the thing is, this is what I finally realized: Asunción's horrible marriage is the reason for her hard-hearted attitude toward Hipólita. Her obsession with Hipólita's staying married, her insistence that Hipólita go back to Panama with her legitimate husband, is related to Asunción's own craven obedience to Francisco, a husband she has admitted she doesn't love, a man who has told HER many times that she embarrasses and angers him, a man who is brutal, cruel, and without scruples. If Hipólita goes back to Antonio, this validates Asunción's choice to stay with Francisco. Women owe obedience to their husbands. But if Hipólita breaks away, then Asunción is going to have to face her own choice to stay in a lousy situation.

Victoria the Pirate Queen goes to Mexico City and seeks out Don Ignacio, who lives in what looks like a warehouse of appropriated luxury items gathering dust under their dustcovers. He says, "you've changed, but you have the same rascal's face as ever." He may be some sort of Cosa Nostra don - he says "I'm pleased with the work your mother and you have been doing." Victoria: "I'm tired of living hidden among delinquents." Ignacio: "Well, I've spent my life here surrounded by thieves and assassins and you don't see ME complaining!"

He says Fray Bartolomay (the elder brother of Victoria's murdered husband) is still the Grand Inquisitor, but he's very old. "Some say he will be going to his Creator soon, but I'm sure he's going to hell. He's been my enemy for thirty years." It seems Victoria will be out of danger if Bartolomay dies.

Victoria asks, "Who murdered my husband and took my daughter?" "An inexperienced no-account delinquent with a scar, I don't remember his name, he didn't even realize who he'd killed. He took your daughter to see if he could get a ransom for her. Then he gave her to me and I hired some guy to bring her to you after you fled north to Santa Fe." "But she never arrived." "I know, your mother sent me about 100 letters." "Why didn't you answer?" "I figured the guy and your daughter were both killed." "Well, who was the guy?" Ignacio thinks and comes up with "Pedro Sandoval of the pueblo of San Andres el alto" and the effort causes him to fall asleep.

Victoria finds the town, finds Pedro's brother (Pedro is dead), and discovers that Pedro had three daughters, one of them "collected" (i.e., not his natural daughter). Bingo! Victoria exults, knowing her daughter lived.

Tuesday: Well, friends, I knew it would happen eventually. On Tuesday nights I have to work - I direct a choir - and when I got home tonight I discovered that gremlins had prevented my VCR from taping the episode. So I MISSED! IT! COMPLETELY! I am crushed. So here's the deal: I'm going to translate for you the sadly brief Spanish summary I found, and will you, please, leave comments that tell what REALLY happened? What did I miss! CARAY, CARAY!!!

Luis goes with Felipe to the beach settlement where Martin was killed. Isabel tries to reason with Hipólita, to no avail. Andrés defends Marina in the plaza. Luis and Felipe arrive at the beach settlement seeking Martin's assassin, whom Felipe decides to confront alone.

Hipólita takes her leave of Luis with a letter and gets on a coach which will take her to Veracruz with Antonio, Rafael y Adalgisa.

Isabel, finding out about the departure, is peeved and complains that Juana didn't do anything to stop it. Diego mocks her and she wipes the smile off his face by mentioning his debt to her.

Victoria begins to seek her daughter.

I saw the last two minutes! The carriage containing Hipólita, Antonio, Ada and Rafael is stopped by some soldiers, who ask for their papers - Antonio, suspecting trouble, hides his pistol behind the papers as he takes them out of the carriage.

The soldiers have been told that the illegitimate son of Luis Manrique has been stolen by a certain Hipólita Diaz. And look, here she is! Adalgisa insists desperately that she is the child's mother and has papers to prove it, but the guards say the papers are probably false. There is violence which ends with both Antonio and Hipólita lying unconscious on the ground and little Rafael - who incredibly never cried even one little peep during this shoot-out and abduction scene!! - is gone.

UPDATE: Dear Ruth was kind enough to fill me in, right away! You guys are wonderful. Here is Ruth's recap:

OK, here is my college try at filling you in... here goes:

=Isabel sends Marina into the square to look for Andrés at the hotel while she chats up Hipólita.

=Isabel and Hipólita hash over the same troubles- Hipólita loves Luis, Luis loves Hipólita, Luis' spouse is, probably, gonna die from the pregnancy, Hipólita breaks down - she doesn't want to be "the other." Blah, Blah…

=Night encroaches (in what seems to be a very short time) and we find Marina still out strolling around the square (looking for Andrés… still!). Two thugs start feeling her up and miraculously Andrés shows up and grabs her from their groping. He duels with the ruffians and, luckily before anyone is hurt or killed, noble Cristóbal interjects and sends the goons packing. Cristóbal takes Marina back to Isabel but not before she can turn around and thank Andrés who looks longingly after her as she's led away.

=Isabel is complaining to Doña Clotilde about Hipólita being stubborn when Cristóbal returns with the sobbing Marina.

=Luis and Felipe camp out. Felipe remembers the death of Martín and weeps while Luis looks on determinedly.

=Morning arrives and they find pirate peoples’ camp. Felipe insists it is his right to go in and confront Martíns murderer's by himself. Luis is adamantly against this but Felipe goes it alone anyway.

=The ruffian murderer’s are play fighting with each other when Felipe confronts them. They ask if he is out for vengeance, he says no, justice. They pull a Martín on him (meaning they surround him at the beach, throw sand at him, etc…) but he’s too determined to perform justice for Martín to be distracted by their antics. While Luis and his henchmen follow with guns, Felipe, at the last moment as the murderer lunges toward him with his sword drawn, throws a small knife and gets the murderer right in the heart. The thug falls into the surf and croaks. A look of satisfaction crosses Felipe’s face.

=Meanwhile, Hipólita writes a Dear Luis letter (btw, she’s a leftie, just an interesting observation on my part). She says that it’s not easy to write this letter, she opened her heart to him so he could read within her and understand her. A tear falls on the word “y” (English meaning “and”. The camera lingers on the tear soaked word, possibly for dramatic purposes).

=Andrés, working as a moza (waiter?) helps Antonio with his suit cases. Antonio asks why Andrés is working as a mozo when he’s a Hidalgo. Andrés answers that “caimos en disgracia.” (We fell in disgrace) Antonio looks pensive.

=The coach is ready and Antonio goes and gets Hipólita, Adalgisa and always calm Rafael. Adalgisa complains about having to take another trip in a boat and hopes it the last time. Doña Clotilde comes to tell Hipólita that her husband has come for her. She asks breathlessly if Hipólita is really leaving. (Suit cases not a big giveaway?) Clotilde asks if Luis knows she’s leaving, Hipólita gives her the letter to give to Luis.

=Cristóbal and Hipólita have a touching moment of goodbye. She informs him she’s given Clotilde a letter to give to Luis (important as in novellas these letters often become “misplaced”). Cristóbal assures Hipólita that Luis is a good person but he understands her desire to return with Antonio and have a respectable life.

=Asunción chats with Antonio and tells him she’s glad Hipólita is returning with him and that a woman’s place is by her husbands side.

=Family and friends play with Rafael as they say their tearful goodbyes.

=Hipólita asks Asunción to forgive her for any bother she’s brought on the family. Asunción says not to worry and that Antonio seems like a good guy… they sob together.

=Catalina and Hipólita sob. Catalina apologizes for treating her so badly in the convent. Hipólita says fugedabadit! They sob and hug, and sob and hug some more.

=Hipólita et. all. hop in the carriage tearfully and are carried away.

=Luis and Felipe briefly chat about the mine (I think) and that Hipólita won’t do what Luis wants. He reflects that everything was looking good for him and Hipólita with the divorce and all (and now it’s all gone down the toitie -Editorial.). Felipe says, “And if she leaves with her husband?” Luis says he doesn’t even wanna think about it.

=Catalina and Cristóbal have a touching moment together where she feels remorse that Hipólita is leaving. They think about what Luis might do when he finds out. Cristóbal says Luis is capable of anything and they chat about the book he lent her.

=Francisco gets up from a night of drinking, comes to the breakfast table and before Catalina can take a bite of anything he sends her to her room. She stomps off. (If only my own teenage daughter had done what she was told so willingly, ha!) He gives poor Asunción the evil eye and asks her when she’s gonna do his dirty work and blackmail Juana. She says tomorrow… he says no, today. She says she needs time to prepare… he asks her what she’s gonna say. She breaks down sobbing… he rolls his eyes.

=Sara’s spy tells her Hipólita has left with hubby and kid to Panama. They discuss Gasca and he informs her Gasca works for Don Diego not Luis. Victoria walks in on their meeting to inform Sara that her daughter is still alive. Victoria notices the spy, Higinio?, but Sara tells her she can trust him. Sara asks why Don Ignacio didn’t say so before… Victoria says, “por disgracia, por infeliz” which I think means to be devilish and mean.

=Isabel fumes that Hipólita left w/o telling Luis --the butler type guy, I forget his name, but I think he’s the brother of Doña Clotilde, tries to give Isabel the letter but she storms off…

=Juana finds Diego dueling with the help, and asks him why he’s dueling… he says to be ready for Luis. She fumes that he’s a nincompoop. Isabel interrupts them still fuming about Hipólita. Diego says he’s happy Hipólita is taking off with the “bastardo” and he tells her to get lost. Isabel reminds them (Diego and Juana) that they have a very old and humongous debt that they can either pay her now or give her the castle instead. She stomps off to leave them to fume about it. Diego goes back whacking furiously at his paring partner then storms off in a rage.

=Isabel is exhilarated and runs to tell Marina about her confrontation with Diego and Juana. Marina tells Isabel that God has given her a miracle by placing her in Isabel’s care. Isabel tears up and tells her she’s gonna adopt her as her own daughter!

=This is the point where melinama was able to tune in…. We have Hipólita, on the carriage with Antonio, reminiscing about her conversation with Luis telling him she was going to return home with her husband. She comes out of the day dream and Antonio asks her what she’s thinking… she says nothing… just about her mother and sister. He says they can come back. She turns away, he looks rejected. They are then stopped by the soldiers and all heck breaks loose… as melinama eloquently outlined earlier…

I post the new update every Wednesday and Saturday morning. All Alborada recaps are now listed in the sidebar to the right - below the small picture of Modesta and Doña Juana, just above the elephant. Click on the numbers (ONE TWO THREE ... ETC) to find them!

I just wanted to make a little correction. The name of the old man, Ignacio's enemy is "Bartolomé," not Bartolomay. Also, I thought is was rather amusing that when Asunción is weeping in the church, there is a bass singing the César Franck setting of "Panis Angelicus," which he composed in 1872. The action of the novela must occur before 1810, when the movement to liberate Mexico from Spain began. Oh, well, I guess a pretty and familiar tune trumps historical accuracy every time.

Thank you Ruth and Melinama for the great recaps! They are such fun to read and they fill in the gaps where my Spanish vocabulary fails me.

The only thing I could add is that Isabel offered to take care of Hipolita and Rafael herself, as an alternative to leaving with Antonio. Hipolita demurs and Isabel says, "Esperanza is going to die soon, most likely." Hipolita is shocked and says something like, "How awful that everyone is hoping for this woman to die!" Isabel tries to convince her to stay and see what happens, and she will take care of them in the meantime.

It was a great episode for Isabel, that's for sure. She had a lot of screen time and her bombshell announcement to Diego and Juana left them both speechless.

Gosh Melinama, I really hope you didn't fret too much. The regularity of your recaps has been superhuman . And hurrah for Ruth!! It was a brilliant write-up. I hope that someday I can understand Spanish as well. Alas, the day may be farther off than I'd hoped, in my Spanish class on Monday while discussing menus I told the entire classroom that my favorite breakfast was "huevos fritos de la ballena." Of course I meant "gallina"...hen not whale. I would have been mortified if I hadn't been laughing so hard along with everyone else. Anyway, you guys are awesome, thanks again Melinama for your dedication and Ruth for saving the day.Sylvia, consumer of gigantic eggs

Great job Melinama and Ruth! I had a little Alborada crisis myself. On Tues. the TV I normally watch refused to show the captions. I endured through Contra Viento y Marea and then hauled up a great big heavy TV from my basement so that I could see Alborada with the captions.

Speaking of historical gaffs like the Cesar Franck incident, when I was taping some of the early episodes for Ruth, I happened to notice a little scene unrelated to the plot where a woman is riding behind a man on a mule and is sitting sidesaddle so her feet are sticking out from her dress. Those feet were shod in 21st century, very high heeled pumps, which were certainly not what women wore at the beginning of the 19th century.

Ok, I have had this question on my mind concerning the death of Martin several episodes ago. It appeared to me that he was buried in the courtyard of his parents'house. There was a cross in stones on the ground and Carmela lying on the ground weeping. Did anyone else get that impression? The courtyard wouldn't be consecrated ground and surely Martin wouldn't have been buried there. It just keeps niggling away at me.

njmotmot: I think Martín is buried in the cemetary and they have a memorial/shrine for him in the courtyard. But it does seem weird that she mourns over that cross int he courtyard and not the grave so I know whatcha mean, maybe I'm wrong...

She was riding side saddle in pumps? Well, I guess if sneakers were peeking out the bottom of her skirt that would have been just too much of a giveaway. lol!

I occasionally peep in at the "avances" on the spanish-language alborada forum. All I can say is, Gasca is going to get a splendid come-uppance. One could figure that out, anyway: it seems to be an uncontrovertible rule in the telenovelas that the more evil a person does, the worse their end. Unlike real life.

Also - anybody have an opinion about who Ignacio is? I said I thought he was like a Mafia don - but what was his original connection to Sara, why is he meddling in this family at all? Is it just business? And how did she get so powerful if she never leaves the house - was that power invested in her by Ignacio? And why does he live in that warehouse?

Hey Anonymous, I agree with you! I had already written for my next post that Adalgisa combines ineffectual behavior, nagging and scolding with overacting and self-importance in an extremely noxious way.

The Don Ignazio connection is a mystery. I assume that we will learn more eventually. But let us examine what we know so far:Prior to the fire on the chalana, Sara moved in Doña Juana's circle. She was on the chalana when it caught fire and was burned. What I understood was that someone had to be the scapegoat for the chalana fire and some Jews (a common choice for scapegoats in this period) were denounced and burned at the stake. Did Sara know Don Ignacio at this time and he protected or helped her? Assuming the the little girl watching the stake burning was Victoria, the next incident involving Sara et al must have happened years later when Victoria was an adult. Victoria married the younger brother of the Chief Inquisitor. When he is killed (by Gasca - we know this), Victoria is accused of the murder and presumably with the assistance of Don Ignacio she goes to become the pirate queen and her daughter is taken away and Sara has to hide in her house. It seems logical that her "power" is the result of her ability to move outside the law aided by Don Ignacio but who knows?As to why Don Ignacio lives in a warehouse - maybe he deals in stolen goods and/or maybe the producers just didn't want to have have an elaborate set for someone who will only make one appearance!

Thank you so much for this site! I have tried to find a Spanish site with recaps, but they are a mess...unrelated comments, not in order, not complete. I am NOT interested in learnig things in advance, I HATE that, just read when I miss the soap, which is not very often. Also, the readers and commentators here are the most intelligent. Love their attention to detail. Martin was buried in the cemetery, the cross in the yard is a shrine, and I would think it is much more convenient to mourn him at home. Visits to the cemetery are time consuming, after all.

"Every day above ground is a good day."
I'm an eccentric musician living in the woods with Hector and Jethro the donkeys, a bunch of chickens, and my son Ezra. I have a a world music klezmer cabaret band
Mappamundi and a related project in Yiddish theater music. Please visit us at Triangle area
wedding ensembles. Find me on Google+! I often wonder if I was supposed to have lived some different life. I live in the woods and study Spanish, Yiddish, and painting.